While aging corporate media types like Bill Good and Les Leyne rally to protect the BC Liberals, Bob Mackin, a reporter with no family member seeking government employment, recaps Premier Photo-Op’s monstrous month of March. In its first quarter, 2012 is destined to be Clark’s own annus horribilis. Forget the
Continue readingTag: BC Liberals
C’mon Adrian Dix, you’ve got to be better than this
The BC Liberals are faltering. Their leader is disliked across much of the province. They are prime for a smart, disciplined opposition to pounce. The stakes are too high – and too opportune – for stupid mistakes. Well, guess what? The leader of the party primed to take over the
Continue readingI guess hiring all those Harper henchmen wasn’t such a great idea after all, eh Christy?
I don’t think hiring Sara MacIntyre and other Harper enablers has had the impact Christy Clark had hoped. B.C. Premier Christy Clark has among the worst approval ratings of premiers in Canada, and saw her popularity drop nine points to 33 per cent since August, according to an Angus Reid survey. snip
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Gary Mason tweets about van Dongen
Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason has never been a docile follower of the Liberal-friendly press gallery clique. He demonstrates independence this week in his column and especially in his twitter account: From March 26: Imagine CC will say JVD’s decision not unexpected and stems from his unhappiness about not
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: A little late but the right thing to do
British Columbia Hansard, March 26, 2012 J. van Dongen: I rise and ask for the attention of the House to make a personal statement. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. J. van Dongen: “…I had hoped that there would have been renewal in my party and in government, but in the last 12
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Read The Real Story, then get mad, stay mad
Stay mad until every single BC Liberal politician is sent home in disgrace. If any single situation demonstrates conclusively that BC Liberals continue to hide from the truth, this is it. If there is no fraud to hide, why are they hiding everything? Read Ian Reid’s Open government my ass
Continue readingBlunt Objects: More By-Election Talk: Port Moody-Coquitlam
Awhile ago (well, the end of January) I did an overview of the BC provincial riding of Chilliwack-Hope, where BC Liberal incumbent since ’96 Barry Penner had stepped down, triggering a by-election. Now, that race wouldn’t have been important, given that the NDP have never even come close to winning
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Did BC taxpayers finance American TV ?
American cable TV producers moved taping of three of 18 episodes of Bravo’s Top Chef: Texas to British Columbia. That may seem unlikely because of the high costs of transporting and housing contestants, judges and an entire U.S. production crew following a 4,000 km location shift. However, you can be
Continue readingBC teachers to fight Bill 22
With the federal Conservatives trying to destroy unions and bully working men and women, the BC Liberals are following suit with teachers. Unlike Air Canada employees, BC’s teachers are not going to take this one lying down. The bill, which will become law by Saturday, orders a six-month cooling-off period
Continue readingChristy Clark Will Answer Questions When She’s Damn Good and Ready, Thank You!
What? You expect me to be Premier EVERYDAY? Thanks to the Vancouver Sun for linking this telling video where newly minted Director of Communications Sara MacIntyre tells reporters essentially that having answered questions yesterday, questions today were off limits. This brings back memories of an election not so long ago when
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Deep down, she is shockingly shallow
Game Change, an HBO movie about the 2008 McCain / Palin campaign is more about éminence grise Steve Schmidt than the Senator or his running mate. A central element is the wretched selection of Sarah Palin as candidate for an office that is a heartbeat away from the presidency. McCain
Continue readingQueen Christy Clark further apes her King Stephen Harper. Refuses to talk to press.
And doesn’t Sara MacIntyre sound like such a lovely person. The more I read and hear about Christy Clark, the less I like the Liberals. Since when did the centre-left party become the party of the wannabe-Cons in BC?
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: A No Era for British Columbia
The British Columbia Liberals promised a number of things when they aimed to form government in 2001. This is from page three of their 36-page campaign document A New Era for British Columbia. Indeed, under more than a decade of Liberal rule, expenditures on education increased. However, we need to
Continue readingBC Liberals Need To Stretch the Truth, They Already Know We Don’t Believe Them
There is a lot of rhetoric going around in the current BCTF/BC Liberal Government battle over teachers contracts. To set a context; BC teachers have been without a contract since last January and have, since September, been working using limited job action (filling out report cards and supervising recess) but
Continue readingBC Liberals Need To Stretch the Truth, They Already Know We Don’t Believe Them
There is a lot of rhetoric going around in the current BCTF/BC Liberal Government battle over teachers contracts. To set a context; BC teachers have been without a contract since last January and have, since September, been working using limited job action (filling out report cards and supervising recess) but
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: BC Liberals reward friends
When Kevin Falcon presented his budget, corporate media cheerleaders turned immediately to the reliables for comment — people like John Winter (BC Chamber of Commerce), Jock Finlayson (BC Business Council) and Phil Hockstein (Independent Contractors and Businesses Association). Vancouver Sun writer Jonathan Fowlie quoted John Winter as saying the budget
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Can this be true?
Premier Photo-Op says, “I am not interested in raising taxes. We are committed to find ways of getting [labour] agreements but we are not going to ask taxpayers to pay more to fund them.” A representative of British Columbia’s teachers says: “Post-secondary students pay more in tuition than British Columbia’s
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Failing healthcare managers paid handsomely
Doctors vow to take back Royal Columbian ER, Tara Carman, Vancouver Sun, February 7, 2012 “Emergency-room doctors at Royal Columbian hospital served notice to administrators Monday they will no longer assess patients in hallways or other areas with insufficient privacy and equipment to do a thorough examination. “The doctors’ statement
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Talking tough with empty words and an empty head
Is there anything more laughable than a politician trained in nothing providing direction to executives of the province’s $14-billion dollar monopoly insurer. Speaking to ICBC, British Columbia’s chief law officer “delivered a firm reminder that there has been a public backlash to recent revelations about compensation for Crown executives.” In
Continue readingAdrian Dix overtakes Christy Clark as BC’s most popular choice for premier
This is good news for BC and for progressives. With Christy Clark shifting ever rightwards, the rise of Adrian Dix in the minds of BC residents is heartening. VICTORIA — Premier Christy Clark suffered a significant blow in public opinion Wednesday, falling for the first time behind NDP leader Adrian
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